


A Bit of a Rough Start

by midoriverte



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Hideweek, Hideweek 2016, M/M, day 1: spring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 16:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7853194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoriverte/pseuds/midoriverte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide Week Day 1: Spring </p>
<p>Hide had liked Kaneki from the moment he first met him. Despite his awkwardness and, for want of a better word, slight creepiness. He couldn't have been happier when Kaneki asked him out. But he was beginning to wonder if it had been a mistake to go out with him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit of a Rough Start

Hide was beginning to wonder if agreeing to go on a date with Kaneki Ken had been a mistake.

They had been friends for a while, Hide didn’t want to say _ever_ since he had walked into the small coffee shop where he worked, but Hide liked to think that they had a certain rapport from the moment they first met.

Which is to say, Hide had a gigantic crush on him immediately, and he desperately hoped the other man would come to like him too.

Kaneki was not a man Hide would call particularly “smooth”, or even sensitive to others’ emotions. In fact, an outsider might not really think Kaneki liked him at all. He was standoffish and sort of strange. Constantly dressed in all black with red gloves (Hide knew it was better he not ask, but he was dying to know _why_ ), large round glasses, and often either scowling or smiling in an unsettling sort of way.

He was adorable.

Most people would say that Hide had an uphill battle, but Hide noticed how Kaneki always smiled softly (not in his unsettling way, but the genuine and soft way that he only did when he thought no one was looking), and straightened up ever so slightly whenever Hide walked in. How he let Hide talk to him about whatever new thing he was interested in that week despite not understanding any of it. How he shyly brought up a new book he was reading once and looked relieved when Hide seemed genuinely interested in it. How he now talked to Hide every time there was quiet in the shop, ready to pick up where he left off last time telling Hide about the story.

Like he said, adorable.

Still, he had been shocked when Kaneki actually, shyly asked him out on a date. He slipped it into conversation casually, as though it were an afterthought. But the fact that was blushing bright red and determinedly looking anywhere but at Hide’s face made it hard to believe that he hadn’t been thinking about it for days, rehearsing the conversation until he was sure it was just right.

Hide had said yes. He had maybe sort of shouted it and earned a stern glare from Touka, but he didn’t mind.

***

It was a nice spring day, warm though still with a bit of a slight chill in the breeze. Most of the cherry blossoms were gone except for one late-blooming tree that hung over the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. Despite the chill, he and Kaneki thought it would be nice to enjoy the meal outside.

Pleasant ambiance aside, the date itself was, well, kind of awkward. First of all, Hide had no idea why Kaneki had picked a restaurant considering he couldn’t eat regular food. He was certain that Kaneki himself was wondering why he had chosen this when they ordered food and the waitress glared at him upon hearing he was only ordering a black coffee.

“That’s one thing about ghouls being out in the open now,” Kaneki said with a quick laugh. “Too many people know about the coffee thing.”

He seemed to realize instantly that he had just said a very awkward thing, because he suddenly bit his lip and looked down at the table and seemed fascinated with his own hands.

The waitress put down their food and Kaneki looked away before he could meet her eye as he took his black coffee. She was still giving Kaneki a rather nasty look. Hide stared at her defiantly, daring her to say something.

The waitress walked away rather quickly after that.

_Good_ , Hide thought savagely.

“Do you get that often?” Hide asked, still staring at her retreating back.

Kaneki shrugged. Hide took the hint to drop it.

A somewhat awkward silence fell on them. Hide played with his food and Kaneki nervously turned his coffee cup around a few times before taking a sip.

“Is the coffee here good?” Hide asked, trying to seize on a topic.

“It’s not bad.”

Silence.

“Is the food good?” Kaneki asked, a moment too late for it to be natural conversation.

“It’s pretty good.”

“That’s good.”

The rest of the date passed more or less in the same manner, with one of them attempting a topic of small talk only to have conversation fade away.

_Didn’t we have a lot of fun together before?_ Hide thought as he forlornly finished his pasta. _Are we really both that nervous for the date? Are we just not compatible?_

Just then, a gust of wind picked up and blew some of the stubborn cherry blossoms towards them. Hide was sitting closest to it and they ended up cascading down on him like confetti. He was glad that he was done eating already, as his plate was covered in light pink and white petals.

There were some on his shoulders as well, and Hide grumbled as he brushed them off.

“Of _course_ they all land on me,” Hide said.

He looked up and his heart skipped a beat. Kaneki was wearing that soft smile that he never wore when he knew someone was looking, his cheeks a little pink.

“What?” Hide demanded, pleased that Kaneki was looking at him that way but very confused.

“Nothing it’s just…” Kaneki trailed off, biting his lip before saying with a laugh. “There’s some in your hair too. A lot.”

“Where?” Hide demanded, reaching up to try and brush the petals out of his hair.

“Here, let me…” Kaneki reached over and brushed the petals out of Hide’s hair. And, Hide thought, perhaps running his fingers through his hair longer than necessary. Not that he minded.

Kaneki dropped his hand, lightly running his hand over Hide’s jaw for a moment before realizing what he was doing and pulling back quickly.

“S-sorry!”

“Don’t be,” Hide said.

Kaneki looked at him for a moment before he sighed and said.

“Look, I’m sorry about… all this. I know this date was awful.”

“It wasn’t-”

Kaneki raised his eyebrows.

“Okay, maybe this isn’t the _best_ date I’ve ever been on,” Hide conceded.

“Sadly, it is still my best date,” Kaneki said.

Hide wasn’t sure if he was supposed to laugh at that one.

“I know this date was not the best way to start something between us,” Kaneki said slowly. “But I really do, uh, like you,” he blushed bright red as he said that. “I just got so worried about being awkward and ruining the date that I was awkward and ruined the date,” he grimaced. “It was easier at the coffee shop with no expectations but now…”

“Kaneki,” Hide said sternly. “I have liked you since the moment I met you. This isn’t going to wreck anything between us. Just be yourself and _relax_.”

“Those two things are mutually exclusive,” Kaneki said.

Hide couldn’t help but laugh at that one.

Kaneki smiled and said, “I really can’t believe you liked me from when you first met me.”

“It’s true,” Hide insisted. “You’re adorable.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“I never lie,” Hide said. “Mostly not anyway. You’re cute.”

“ _You’re_ the one who’s adorable,” Kaneki insisted. “When all those cherry blossoms were in your hair…” he stopped himself abruptly, suddenly looking horribly embarrassed.

“Well look at you, being all smooth by accident,” Hide said, going a little red himself.

Kaneki groaned weakly and said, “Look, can we scrap this first date and have another one?  I want to give you a better dating experience, if you’d let me.”

Hide grinned, “It’s a date!”

Kaneki looked relieved, “I think next time I’ll let you pick what we do.”

“Why don’t we just go to a movie?” Hide asked.

“Right now?” Kaneki asked, looking a little alarmed.

“Why not?” Hide said. “I am anxious to get the ball rolling with this,” he added with a wink.

Kaneki rolled his eyes but said, “That sounds… nice.”

“Good. I’m going to pick the worst movie ever, that way all our attention is on each other instead.”

Kaneki shook his head in exasperation, but Hide could swear he heard Kaneki whisper “cute” very softly, almost like he hadn’t intended to.

Hide smiled to himself. This was the start of something good.


End file.
